University of Missouri

The University of Missouri–Kansas City (often referred to as UMKC) is an institution of higher learning located in Kansas City, Missouri, USA. Its main campus is in Kansas City's Rockhill neighborhood east of the Country Club Plaza.

History

The University was originally chartered in 1929 as the University of Kansas City, a private institution with a board of trustees comprised of prominent Kansas City businessmen. The idea to found a private institution of higher learning in Kansas City came from the Kansas City Chamber of Commerce in the mid-1920s. Classes began in October of 1933 with a faculty of 17 and a student enrollment of 264.

The University of Kansas City grew quickly, and soon incorporated other existing local private institutions of higher learning. The Kansas City School of Law, which was founded in the 1890s and located in downtown Kansas City, merged into the university in 1938. The Kansas City-Western Dental College followed in 1941 and the Kansas City College of Pharmacy merged in 1943. This was followed by the Kansas City Conservatory of Music in 1959. During this period, the university also established the School of Administration in 1953, the School of Education in 1954, the Division for Continuing Education in 1958.

On July 25, 1963, the university became part of the University of Missouri System, which includes campuses in Columbia, Rolla, and St. Louis. Accordingly, the university's name was changed to the University of Missouri–Kansas City.

After this, UMKC established the School of Graduate Studies in 1964, the School of Medicine in 1970, the School of Nursing in 1980, the School of Basic Life Sciences in 1985 (which was renamed the School of Biological Sciences in the mid-1990s), and the School of Computing and Engineering in 2001.

By 2002, its active enrollment had grown to over 13,000 students.

Academics

Academic units

Today, the academic divisions of UMKC are the College of Arts and Sciences, the School of Education, the School of Nursing, the Henry W. Bloch School of Business and Public Administration, the School of Medicine (one of only four in Missouri), the School of Law (also one of only four in Missouri), the School of Computing and Engineering, the School of Biological Sciences, the Conservatory of Music, the School of Dentistry, the School of Graduate Studies, and the School of Pharmacy.

The School of Medicine is regionally known for its six-year post-secondary program, wherein a student spends only six years obtaining both a bachelor of arts and doctor of medicine degree. The school is located away from the main campus on "Hospital Hill," where it is connected to Truman Medical Center, a large research hospital.

The School of Law produces more future judges than any other law school in Missouri, according to local business publication Ingram's Magazine. In addition, the law school is known for having the highest passage rate on the Missouri bar exam of any of the state's four law schools. The school is one of only five American law schools, along with Yale Law School, Harvard Law School, Columbia Law School, and the University of Cincinnati College of Law, to have produced both a President of the United States (Harry S. Truman) and a Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States (Charles Evans Whittaker).

Notable faculty

Notable faculty, past and present, include:

Steve Ballard, professor of political science
Louis Colaianni, author, voice and speech coach
Douglas E. Cowan, professor of religious studies
Kris Kobach, Daniel L. Brenner Professor of Law, former White House fellow and politicical candidate
Jan Kregel, post-Keynsian economist, professor of economics
Zhou Long, contemporary classical composer, professor of musical composition
Harris Mirkin, professor of political science
Bobby Watson, Jazz saxaphonist
Chen Yi, contemporary classical composer, professor of musical composition
Rich Zvosec, basketball coach

Athletics

UMKC's mascot is Kasey Kangaroo (originally drawn by Walt Disney) and its teams go by the nickname the Roos (short for Kangaroos). The school's colors are old gold and royal blue. It is a member of the NCAA's Division I Mid-Continent Conference. The men's basketball team plays at Kansas City's Municipal Auditorium arena.

Distinguished Alumni

Ryan Barber: soccer player for the Kansas City Wizards Major League Soccer team
Henry Bloch (B.A. attended): Chairman of the Board of H&R Block (namesake of UMKC's School of Business and Public Administration)
Robert Brookmeyer (Conservatory of Music 1950): jazz trombonist
Hilary Bush (J.D. 1932): former Lieutenant-Governor of Missouri
Danny Carey: drummer for the band Tool
John Carmack: video game programmer
John Ciardi: poet and etymologist
Gerald Combs: Original Author of Wireshark, widely-used public domain Internet Protocol Analyzer
Ilus Davis (B.A. 1934): Mayor of Kansas City, Missouri, from 1963 to 1971
William Levi Dawson (Conservatory of Music 1928): Composer, founder and first dean of the Tuskeegee School of Music
Tony Dumas (B.A. attended): basketball player for the Dallas Mavericks
Donald Fehr (J.D. 1973): Major League Baseball Players Association representative
Sean Philip Harrington: theatre director
Juris Hartmanis: computer scientist, ACM Turing Award Winner (considered to be Nobel Prize of Computing)
Clarence M. Kelley (J.D. 1940): director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, 1973-1978
Willie Lanier: Pro Football Hall of Fame middle linebacker for the Kansas City Chiefs football team
Edie McClurg (B.A. 1967): actress, credits include Ferris Bueller's Day Off, WKRP in Cincinnati, The Hogan Family, Mr. Mom, A River Runs Through It, and Natural Born Killers
Henry M. Morris: the "father of modern 'creation science'"
Bill Reardon: prolific Kansas politician
Richard Rhodes: Pulitzer Prize winning journalist
Mikel Rouse: music composer
Craig Stevens (B.A. 1936): actor, most famous for Peter Gunn series
Leith Stevens (Conservatory of Music 1927): film composer
Shelby Storck (B.A. 1937): television producer
Harry S. Truman (J.D. attended): 33rd President of the United States
Dame Ruth Warrick (B.A. 1937); stage, screen, radio, and television actress; credits include Citizen Kane and All My Children; nominated for three Emmy Awards
William L. Webster: Missouri politician
Charles Wheeler (J.D. 1959): Mayor of Kansas City, Missouri, from 1971 to 1979
Charles Evans Whittaker (J.D. 1924): Associate Justice, Supreme Court of the United States
J. Michael Yates (B.A. 1962): poet and dramatist

External links

Kansas City metropolitan area | University of Missouri System

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